An unofficial Croydon, Sutton and Surrey Green Party blog by Shasha Khan. Having lived in Croydon most of my life, I now live just outside the south west of the borough in Woodmansterne.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

National Flood planning to help local residents in Kenley

130 people were evacuated from their homes

15 Fire Engines as far as Hemel Hempstead brought in to pump water around the clock

18.02.2014

Press Release on floods: immediate

The UK’s response to the flooding
crisis must centre on a long-term strategy to address climate change the Green
Party says today, as it recommends a series of ten measures (1) to improve
the country’s flood resilience in future.

It says sustained political action on
climate change is crucial to reducing the risk of severe flooding happening
again.

The Party is calling for Environment
Secretary Owen Paterson to be sacked and for the Prime Minister to remove
Cabinet Ministers and senior government officials who refuse to accept the
scientific consensus on climate change. The Met Office (2) has said that the
evidence points to climate change contributing to these extraordinary floods.

Tracey, Hague, co-leader of the Croydon
Green Party, said:

“These floods, which have left cars
submerged and homes evacuated in Kenley, bring into focus the devastating risk
of inaction on climate change.

We need to do all we can right now to
help those affected by flooding, including applying to the EU for extra
financial help. In the longer term we must reverse staff cuts at the
environment agency and strengthen planning rules to prevent further development
on flood plains.”

The Green Party’s ten point plan on
flooding includes:

1. Reverse staff cuts at the
Environment Agency, review its budget, and drop plans to impose a duty on the
EA to consider economic growth which could get in the way of providing
independent expert advice

2. Strengthen planning rules for
urban and rural areas to prevent further development on flood plains and ensure
developers prioritise flood resilience and prevention – including through
incorporation of SUDS in new developments as well as a programme of
retrofitting SUDS to existing communities. Ensure better transparency of
decisions so public can hold decision makers accountable.

3. Get rid of any cabinet Ministers
or senior governmental advisors who refuse to accept the scientific consensus
on climate change or who won’t take the risks to the UK seriously

“It’s a crying shame more of the
recommendations made by the The Pitt Review into the 2007 floods (4) haven’t
been taken seriously by Labour, the Tories, and their Coalition government
lackeys in the Lib Dem Party. But it is not too late for action.”

Caroline Lucas, the Green Party MP
for Brighton Pavilion, said:

“Across the country, homes and
businesses are being devastated by the floods, and our hearts go out to
everyone whose life is being turned upside down. Nature is giving us another
wake-up call.

“In addition to making sure
everything possible is done to help people affected by the immediate crisis, we
need a credible long term strategy to tackle the risk of flooding and extreme
weather to people’s homes and livelihoods in the future.”

The call to government urges
ministers to adopt the recommendations of a major independent cross sector
coalition for a Cabinet-level committee on infrastructure and climate change
resilience and a Royal Commission on the long-term impacts of climate change on
land.

The Green Party is also calling for
all staff cuts at the Environment Agency to be cancelled, planning rules to be
strengthened to prevent further development on flood plains, and for increased
levels of spending on flood defences to a level in line with expert
recommendations from the Environment Agency and the Climate Change Committee.

And it is supporting the call of
campaigners for the billions of UK fossil fuel subsidies and tax breaks to be
used to help the victims of flooding

“This redirection will address the
underspend and assist the victims of flooding, as well as putting a halt to
public money exacerbating the problem of climate change that is making the
floods so much worse”, noted Bennett.